State of War + Warmonger (v1.6)

A scorched future battlefield becomes a spectacle of collapsing structures, smoke trails, and oversized explosions in this old-school real-time strategy double feature. State of War and its standalone follow-up Warmonger deliver a fast, combat-first take on the genre, built around defending territory, assembling forces, and reducing enemy installations to rubble. The tone is pure early-2000s action: serious military briefings and animated mission intros frame battles that are more interested in firepower than diplomacy. Across 38 campaign missions, the package offers a substantial run of escalating objectives and hostile maps.

Commanders establish bases, produce ground units, and push toward enemy strongholds while managing the constant pressure of incoming attacks. Air power plays a major role, letting players call in aircraft to drop devastating payloads where a conventional advance stalls. One of the more unusual tools is the Advancer, a specialist unit capable of seizing hostile buildings instead of merely destroying them, which creates opportunities to turn an opponent’s production against them. Missions generally focus on assault, defense, or elimination tasks, and success depends on quick unit production, sensible positioning, and knowing when to commit everything to a decisive strike.

Destruction is the star attraction, with buildings breaking apart into debris and battlefields filling with clouds, flares, weapon effects, and lingering smoke. Its visual technology naturally looks dated beside modern RTS releases, but the readable 2D presentation and enthusiastic effects still give every bombardment weight. Warmonger extends the formula rather than radically reinventing it, making the bundle feel like a lengthy expansion of the same aggressive strategy style. Fans of Command & Conquer-era campaigns, especially players who prefer straightforward base building and explosive missions over intricate economic simulation, find plenty to enjoy here; newcomers should expect classic RTS controls and a tougher, less forgiving pace than contemporary strategy games.